Smithton is a town on the far north-west coast of
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
, Australia. It lies on the
Bass Highway, 85 km north-west of
Burnie
Burnie ( ; Aboriginal Tasmanians#North, pirinilaplu/palawa kani: ''Pataway'') is a port city located on the North West Tasmania, north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the fourth largest city on the island, located approximately north ...
. At the , Smithton had a population of 3,934. Smithton is the administrative centre of the
Circular Head Council.
History
Duck River Post Office opened on 1 November 1873 and was renamed ''Smithton'' in 1895.
In 1905 Smithton was declared a town and the Mowbray swamp (now part of the locality of Mella) was drained for dairy pasture. It was here that, in 1920, the 45,000 year old skeleton of a ''
Zygomaturus'' was discovered.
In 1905, the
jetty
A jetty is a man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater (structure), breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French la ...
at Smithton was 1200m long.
The first regular rail service on the
Marrawah Tramway started in 1913. In 1919 The Stanley–Trowutta railway commenced services and by 1921 the Smithton to Irishtown link was opened. By 1922 the railway link from Myalla to Wiltshire Junction was completed, thus joining the railways in the municipality to the state system. Smithton High School was opened in 1937, and in 1951 a kindergarten and public hospital were opened in Smithton, and the town began to flourish.
Economy
The economy of Smithton is
agriculture
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...
based, consisting primarily of dairy and beef farming. Other major industries that contribute to the local economy are fishing, aquaculture, crop farming, timber plantations and tourism.
As it is a major centre in the northwest of the state, several companies have established processing plants in Smithton. Major employers in the town include Greenham Tasmania, who operate a meat processing plant that prepares beef for export to Japan and the United States as well as Australian markets. The plant employs over 120 staff.
McCain Foods
McCain Foods Limited is a Canadian multinational frozen food company established in 1957 in Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada.
It is the world's largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, with 1 in 4 french fries in the world being a ...
(Australia) maintain potato storage, processing and freezing facilities in the town for the production of
French fries. The McCain plant operates year-round and employs a workforce of 150 from the local community. Two timber mills are also located in Smithton, operated by Britton Bros and Ta Ann Tasmania. Tasmanian Seafoods Pty Ltd operate an
abalone processing facility and cannery as well as having their head office located in the town. Also,
Murray Goulburn (a dairy company) have offices there.
Tarkine Fresh Oysters (Bolduans Bay Oysters) also run a significant aquaculture facility in Smithton, employing more than 40 people.
Infrastructure
The education community consists of a Catholic independent school, a Christian school and government schools. St Peter Chanel is the local Catholic primary school servicing the community.
Circular Head Christian School is the local Christian school, which starts at Kindergarten and goes through to year 12.
The
National Broadband Network ran a trial rollout in Smithton, with the first customers connected in July 2010.
In 1996, a Cultural Heritage Centre and Museum was started in Smithton to preserve many of the artifacts from Smithton's settlement and is still run today by local volunteers. It houses a collection of photos, tools and other day to day memorabilia used in the Circular Head area.
Climate
Smithton has a
Mediterranean-influenced oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...
(
Köppen: Cfb/Csb), with very mild, relatively dry summers and cool, wet winters. Average maxima vary from in February to in July while average minima fluctuate between in February and in July. Mean average annual
precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
is moderate: , and is strongly concentrated in winter. Due to being
windward
In geography and seamanship, windward () and leeward () are directions relative to the wind. Windward is ''upwind'' from the point of reference, i.e., towards the direction from which the wind is coming; leeward is ''downwind'' from the point ...
of the
Central Highlands, precipitation is very frequent: spread between 208.3 precipitation days. The town has 183.4 cloudy days and only 38.1 clear days per annum. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 30 January 2009 to on 19 June 2024.
Temperature extremes were combined from the closed Grant Street and the open
Smithton Airport
Smithton Airport is an Australian regional airport located west of Smithton, a town in Tasmania's north-west. The airport is operated by the Tasmanian Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources
The Department of Infrastructure, En ...
weather stations.
Notable people
Noted former Smithtonians include:
*
Hannah Gadsby (born in Smithton, 1978), comedian, winner of the
Edinburgh Comedy Awards
The Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Establ ...
in 2017
*
Enid Lyons (born in Smithton, 1897), first woman elected to the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Australian Senate, Senate. Its composition and powers are set out in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
...
*
Don Kay (born in Smithton, 1933), composer and professor of music
References
{{authority control
Localities of Circular Head Council
Towns in Tasmania